An early fascination with maps and cities inspired Steven Roets, a top academic achiever at Merrill High School, to pursue a career as an urban planner. / Keith Uhlig/Daily Herald Media

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Daily Herald Media

Emily Adams

How he does it

Steven Roets shares some of his study tips that have led to his academic success: • Stay positive, keep an attitude of wanting to be successful. • Plan out your study time. Roets usually maps out what he needs to study and when about a week in advance, but there are certain aspects he plans 30 or more days ahead of time. • Set goals and reward yourself when you meet them. They can be large goals, like getting a master’s degree, or short-term objectives, such as getting as snack when a vocabulary list is memorized. • Use the expertise of teachers. “Teachers are your friends,” Roets said. “Use them, go ask for help if you don’t understand something.” • Do your homework. “Almost always it’s been assigned for a reason,” he said. “And often it solidifies a concept in your mind.” Doing homework right away means that Roets doesn’t need to spend as much time studying for exams later.

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MERRILL — Steven Roets remembers drawing maps and cities when he was a small boy.

He’s not exactly sure why. “I don’t know; ever since I was little, urban areas just have intrigued me,” Roets said. “I’d keep these notebooks full of the drawings. Some were real; others were (imagined).”

Now, as an 18-year-old senior at Merrill High School, the fascination with urban landscapes has merged with a deep interest in politics and a competitive inner drive to do well in all aspects of school. Roets maintains at 4.0 grade point average, is involved in 4-H, student government and the arts. He acts in the school’s theater program, plays tuba in concert, marching, pep and jazz bands, and has painted murals in a school art program that reproduces classic paintings on the walls of the high school’s hallways.

He also volunteers as the student representative on the River District Development Foundation of Merrill, a group of Merrill residents that is working to develop a walking/biking path along the Wisconsin River, among other things.

Roets already expects he’ll pursue a master’s degree after finishing up undergraduate studies with a major in political science, government affairs or urban studies. He’s not sure of the details about where he’ll go to college and exactly what his major will be. He has already been accepted to the University of Minnesota, the University of Illinois and Notre Dame. He has applied and hopes to be accepted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Ivy League schools Cornell, Columbia and Yale.

He knows that he’s aiming high. “I just kind of figure, if I have the opportunity, why not go for it?” Roets said.

Roets does all this by being a positive, outgoing, friendly student, said Merrill High School Principal Shannon Murray.

Roets wears his enthusiasm on his sleeve, and it’s evident shortly after meeting him. And it’s as contagious as a cold.

He chose urban planning not only because of the innate allure of cities such as Boston, New York, Chicago and Providence, R.I., but because the goal of the planner is to make the environment and lives better.

“It’s something I can do to positively impact society,” Roets said.

Roets has a natural intellect that makes plenty of school work come easily. He can read and retain information well, he said. But that also might be a byproduct of the hard work he devotes to all his classes. He decided early on his educational journey that school and studying would be the vehicle he could use to get where he wants to go, and that attitude led to strong motivation.

There’s also more than a bit of a perfectionist lurking in Roets’ easygoing personality.

Is maintaining a 4.0 important to him? “Oh yeah,” he said. “It really is.”

At the same time, he genuinely likes school and all his classes, and he doesn’t ever see himself letting up in terms of educating himself and discovering new ideas, concepts or other things.

“I think continually learning is really important,” Roets said. “Who knows how different things will be of use in the future?”